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November 7, 2025
All-Division Colloquium
- Amy E. Wright, PhD
- Florida Atlantic University
Exploring the Rich Natural Products Chemistry of Deep-Water Marine Habitats
The oceans have proven to be a rich source of natural products, many with pharmaceutical potential. Our program at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute of Florida Atlantic University began in 1984. The major goal of the program has been to use the Johnson-Sea-Link and other submersibles to explore and collect marine plants, microbes, and invertebrates from deep-water habitats as sources of biologically active natural products. Much of our work has focused on oncology and infectious disease research. Over the past forty years, our team conducted 107 expeditions, explored 3,455 sites, and collected over 32,000 samples: 47% from mesophotic and deep-water habitats. The talk will describe our exploration of marine habitats for novel natural products and the biological activities of the compounds we have discovered.
About the Speaker:
For the past 40 years, Dr. Wright has conducted research in the field of natural products chemistry. She is the Director for the Center of Excellence in Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology and the Head of the Natural Products Chemistry Group at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. She received her BS in Chemistry from California State University at Dominguez Hills and her MSc and PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of California at Riverside. Dr. Wright’s research primarily focuses on identifying marine natural products with potential for developing novel therapeutic agents to treat cancer and other dread diseases. She has over 100 publications on marine natural products and is an inventor on thirty-three US patents. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Pharmacognosy and the National Academy of Inventors and the recipient of the Norman Farnsworth Lifetime Achievement award from the ASP and the Paul J. Scheuer Award for Excellence in Marine Natural Products.
Hosted by Jason Kwan